Smith joins sheriffs in gun law protest

Rally timed for Obama's Colorado appearance

Larimer Sheriff Justin Smith took to a Denver stage Wednesday to deliver his message opposing gun control initiatives by the White House and the Statehouse.

Smith joined more than a dozen Colorado county sheriffs at an east Denver park for an event timed to coincide with President Barack Obama's visit to Colorado to press ahead with his gun control agenda.

Smith, an outspoken opponent of most measures aimed at gun reform, said Obama's appearance in Denver cut across the grain of Colorado's traditions.

"The message we're sending is that there's an opposing viewpoint that has been utterly ignored," Smith said.

"It's a state issue that has had too much national input. There was a rush to legislate, and no desire to slow down and consider these proposals and their implications."

Colorado's legislature has sent to Gov. John Hickenlooper's desk a raft of gun law reforms.

They include a ban on high-capacity magazines, a prohibition on gun possession by subjects of domestic violence restraining orders and an expansion of background checks to include private gun sales or transfers.

Smith said Wednesday before heading to the sheriffs' press event at Thomas Memorial Park that the legislative successes by reformers in Colorado had brought Obama to the state.

"The president is essentially taking a victory lap here," Smith said. "It's a staged event, a political rally, with carefully handpicked participants.

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Smith said more than a dozen county sheriffs, and perhaps as many as 18, would attend the 1 p.m. park rally.

He and other Colorado sheriffs have criticized mostly East Coast gun opponents for interfering with the rights of the state's gun owners.

"We're getting billionaire Michael Bloomberg's agenda being pushed on Colorado," Smith said, referring to the New York City mayor who has committed $18 million of his own money to pushing gun reform measures nationally.

He said a Colorado bill requiring background checks for every gun transaction was especially heinous, because it violates not only rights guaranteed under the Second Amendment but privacy rights as well.

"It's very Denver-centric," Smith said. "Go to Hinsdale County. You might have to drive two or three hours to find a licensed gun dealer" to authorize a gun transaction.

Smith said that while he opposes background checks of any sort, Colorado's new requirement could be arranged through Colorado Bureau of Investigation databases without compromising personal information.

"CBI can clear a person without disclosing personal information, such as a date of birth, an address or other information that could put someone at risk of identity theft," Smith said.

Smith said that he supported a single provision contained in the legislature's gun reform package, one that would prohibit online-only training for concealed weapon permits.